Sonny: wins to heat level for the 2024 season

[Endless Purple]

I cannot speak for everyone, but I will say this: I lost all confidence in Sonny Dykes after last year's swan-dive into an empty pool. Sonny and his Crack Staff were out-coached by a sideshow clown in the opening game. The Head Coach has to know who his team is. He has to have a good judgement of who his Coaches are, and their mastery of both their schemes and the ability of their players to execute them. He failed in those categories. Spectacularly.

Will this improve? Who knows? But, given my judgement of Sonny, I have little hope of substantial improvement. I mean, why bother? He has a gargantuan contract, and a few years of slack guaranteed...

Fair answer. He was not in my top 5 choices to replace GP.

But he does not seem to have the one big problem that bothered me with GP - Dykes did not wait 5 years to replace a coordinator when the job was not being done. Also he has not been at any school long enough to see if he has a ceiling. He generally improves every year with one drop in the middle at each school. So it seems really early to even discuss firing him and rumors only hurt the program when there is no obvious issue that calls for replacement.

 

[ShreveFrog]

@Endless Purple - Curious who your top 5 were (if they were realistic.) Napier was the only guy I thought we could get that I wanted ahead of Sonny. And looks like we dodged a bullet there.

 

[Endless Purple]

@Endless Purple - Curious who your top 5 were (if they were realistic.) Napier was the only guy I thought we could get that I wanted ahead of Sonny. And looks like we dodged a bullet there.

I did not do heavy research, just cursory interest in some. Napier and Traylor were of interest plus a few others at lower level schools that were successful. I don't remember which ones off hand. I was not looking at other power level schools for coaches. I vaguely remember there were one or two that were more obscure and not mentioned heavily (one or two were FCS). Just don't remember names from that far back.

 

[BrewingFrog]

But he does not seem to have the one big problem that bothered me with GP - Dykes did not wait 5 years to replace a coordinator when the job was not being done.

It could be argued (And Jugband did fairly often) that the Gillespie was a problem from the beginning. It wasn't until he really got settled in that his "let them come to you" philosophy was fully exploited by opposing teams. My point about "knowing your team" is exactly that: As a professional, he should have seen these weaknesses just as clearly as others, and known that disaster was on the horizon. Sadly, it took a lost season to ascertain that.

I have not called for Sonny to be fired. Yet. 1.) He is contracted for far too much money to be heaved to the curb, and 2.) He may yet improve.

Time will tidy up, as it always does.

 

[ShadowFrog]

It could be argued (And Jugband did fairly often) that the Gillespie was a problem from the beginning. It wasn't until he really got settled in that his "let them come to you" philosophy was fully exploited by opposing teams. My point about "knowing your team" is exactly that: As a professional, he should have seen these weaknesses just as clearly as others, and known that disaster was on the horizon. Sadly, it took a lost season to ascertain that.

I have not called for Sonny to be fired. Yet. 1.) He is contracted for far too much money to be heaved to the curb, and 2.) He may yet improve.

Time will tidy up, as it always does.

I’ll drink to that.

 

[LVH]

Defense was pure ass last year (not sure if anyone else agrees but that's the way I saw it)

At the end of the day defense wins championships and this year will not ride or die on QB play or offensive line but how much the defense can do to play it's role

 

[tetonfrog]

Fourth-quarter coaching and execution were the # 1 issue last year - in every phase of the game. I would hope we focused on that this offseason. It would help if our $ kicker was $ again........

 

[FrogBall09]

Talk about betting on the come...

Sounded like a great idea, until everything collapsed in a heap 8 months later. We were already paying him a ton, with plenty of cash on the side for assistants. Immediately whupping out the TCU Checkbook and flinging more at him was dopey, especially so in hindsight. Now we're stuck with him.

Imagine... $25,000,000 for 5-7 season, followed by another barely-making-a-Bowl-game season, followed by who knows what. I don't have much confidence in Sonny, and I damned sure don't have any for some of his assistants, and it pisses me off that we're on the hook for this buffoon into the next decade.

A lot of boosters pointed out that 6 years was too long for a guy who had been here 2 years at the time....but it is what it is now and he won't be going anywhere soon because we don't have the backing to pay a coach to leave at that level.

 

[82 Frog Fever]

Defense was pure ass last year (not sure if anyone else agrees but that's the way I saw it)

At the end of the day defense wins championships and this year will not ride or die on QB play or offensive line but how much the defense can do to play it's role

This year will absolutely ride or die on QB/OL play.

 

[An-Cap Frog]

I think it’s saying 7-5 when looking at the cumulative probability. But we’d be favored in 9 games.

7.2 wins!

 

[An-Cap Frog]

@Endless Purple - Curious who your top 5 were (if they were realistic.) Napier was the only guy I thought we could get that I wanted ahead of Sonny. And looks like we dodged a bullet there.

To name 2: Mike Elko and Dan Lanning.

 

[An-Cap Frog]

This year will absolutely ride or die on QB/OL play.

2024 TCU: Ride or DIE!

 

[Mean Purple]

Bowl game or be gone for SD.

There was no excuse for last year. If he can't get 8 wins, there will be lots of grumbling.

 

[Mean Purple]

If our defense improves (how could it not?) our offense won’t be under the gun constantly. We have to be able to stop opposing offenses. I’ll be very interested to see how this plays out this year.

I know there are big questions about the OL but I think we will be able to score points. I also hope our kicking game is better. That was shaky last year.

There were some games last year that, when considering what offenses put up these days, Frog D had gotten the job done. Offense has to complete drives. Can have all the rankings in the world, at the end of the day, points on the board matter.

 

[Mean Purple]

The problem I see is Dykes’ ability to coach his OC to expectations. This was LHCGP’s downfall, and the great coaches coach their coaches. I consistently point to Saban and how he adapted over time to different style of offensive play, but also with a new OC almost every year, and to the job done with Milroe last year. Milroe is trash. Alabama was decent qb play away from being NCs last year, and they somehow duct taped that bum together enough to pull of the Georgia upset, and should have beaten Michigan. In the end, Milroe is not that caliber of qb.

Dykes needs to have been coaching Briles through all his red zone deficiencies and his lack of consistent identity.

I hope he has been.

Ok, but here's the thing. Is Dykes going to look at the red zone in wiser fashion as well?
His first year, in situtations where he is the override for decision, we still saw some nonsense in the red zone. When it was obvously time to run the ball and get 6, we saw some poor play calls.

 

[Endless Purple]

It could be argued (And Jugband did fairly often) that the Gillespie was a problem from the beginning. It wasn't until he really got settled in that his "let them come to you" philosophy was fully exploited by opposing teams. My point about "knowing your team" is exactly that: As a professional, he should have seen these weaknesses just as clearly as others, and known that disaster was on the horizon. Sadly, it took a lost season to ascertain that.

I have not called for Sonny to be fired. Yet. 1.) He is contracted for far too much money to be heaved to the curb, and 2.) He may yet improve.

Time will tidy up, as it always does.

If I remember correctly (not a guarantee), but I thought many on this board liked him for the DC. If that was the case, then there were just as many others that thought there was potential. Seems he made a reasonably timed call as football is not about weekly hiring and firings that would really suck for players learning a new system before every game.

 

[BrewingFrog]

If I remember correctly (not a guarantee), but I thought many on this board liked him for the DC. If that was the case, then there were just as many others that thought there was potential. Seems he made a reasonably timed call as football is not about weekly hiring and firings that would really suck for players learning a new system before every game.

Very few of us on this board are Football Experts*, who spend endless hours dissecting game film and building a knowledge base on each and every opponent, in addition to casting that same penetrating vision onto his own team. Most of us have jobs (or did), so we do cursory surface glances at other teams or glean some insight by watching the games when they're on between the interminable commercials.

It didn't take long for the verdict to come back, and it took Georgia to really cram the message down our throats. It was the odd outlier games like UT in '22, and BYU in '23 that are puzzling: He knew what to do then, why was he so awful against others? Additionally, it was the Football Experts in the room doing film study that should have pointed out these issues in real time, and the Head Coach who held the responsibility of seeing that that particular leak in the dam was plugged.

As you know, I have long been against revolving-door Coaching Staffs, as much as I have been against stubborn Coaches who insist on bashing a square peg into a round hole to fit his "system" instead of utilizing the talents he is given. It's a delicate business. Yet, we judge these men based on performance in their key responsibilities, and if they cannot perform, then there's the plank.



* I am for damned sure not a Football Expert.

 

[TopFrog]

He had to replace his OC last season, and to his credit he replaced his DC this off-season and a new scheme and philosophy will be deployed, which can't help but be an improvement. So those are two huge changes and it often takes a time to get new schemes to gel. That said, there is no real excuse to not make a bowl game at least this season.

 

[Endless Purple]

Very few of us on this board are Football Experts*, who spend endless hours dissecting game film and building a knowledge base on each and every opponent, in addition to casting that same penetrating vision onto his own team. Most of us have jobs (or did), so we do cursory surface glances at other teams or glean some insight by watching the games when they're on between the interminable commercials.

It didn't take long for the verdict to come back, and it took Georgia to really cram the message down our throats. It was the odd outlier games like UT in '22, and BYU in '23 that are puzzling: He knew what to do then, why was he so awful against others? Additionally, it was the Football Experts in the room doing film study that should have pointed out these issues in real time, and the Head Coach who held the responsibility of seeing that that particular leak in the dam was plugged.

As you know, I have long been against revolving-door Coaching Staffs, as much as I have been against stubborn Coaches who insist on bashing a square peg into a round hole to fit his "system" instead of utilizing the talents he is given. It's a delicate business. Yet, we judge these men based on performance in their key responsibilities, and if they cannot perform, then there's the plank.



* I am for damned sure not a Football Expert.

So every coach that has a not good year or is suspect gets fired? No second year to see if they can correct their mistakes? That will make for one heck of a revolving door.

 

[BrewingFrog]

So every coach that has a not good year or is suspect gets fired? No second year to see if they can correct their mistakes? That will make for one heck of a revolving door.

Putting words in my mouth is a lousy way to argue. Gillespie was here two years. His detractors pointed out his prior shortcomings when he arrived. His results were less than stellar his first season at TCU, and downright awful the second. He refused to alter a philosophically flawed system, in spite of all evidence to the contrary, and the entire organization suffered for it. His Head Coach let him continue while the team suffered. At the end of that second season, he was fired.

Good riddance.

Not everyone will be a success right off the bat, and some might show a flash and then fade. Occasionally there are stubborn mules who just won't do what you ask.

I remember this scene from Patton...